Archive for 'social software'

I have been working since November to make HigherEd BlogCon a success. And whatdayaknow? I get the flu, just as the Library and Information Resources week begins. I have been feeling hella-bad since Monday and although I’m definitely a lot better, I’m still only at the level of having a really bad cold. So as …

I just wanted to let you all know that today is the first day of the Library and Information Resources track of HigherEd BlogCon. We’ve got a great schedule of presentations this week that cover a wide range of topics dealing with technology in libraries. If you’d like to take part in the conference, all …

Dorothea asks TechEssence readers what you’d like us all to write about. We’ve really got a really diverse range of tech expertise in this bunch, so take advantage of it! Let us know what tech topics you’d like to hear from us about.

There’s another new blog on the block this week! The Liminal Librarian is written by the inimitable and indomitable Rachel Singer Gordon, one of the best writers in the profession today. For those with limited vocabularies (like me! I didn’t have a clue.) liminality is the state of being “in between,” which pretty accurately describes …

I’m a nuts and bolts kinda gal. I like books, articles and conference sessions that give me real, concrete ideas for how I can do good things in my library. I think a lot of librarians are like that. We’re all busy people and many of us only have time for professional development outside of …

When I first started Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki in July 2005, I didn’t know how people would respond to it. Would they use it? Would they ignore it? I figured that if the worst thing that would happen is that they would ignore it, then it was worth doing. So I added content …

I feel like I’ve been run over by a train. In addition to being completely exhausted by the conference and waking up with a migraine, I seem to have come down with a bad cold on top of it all. But I’ll take feeling like this any day for the amazing time I had at …

How Basic is Basic? – Kathleen Stacy She is talking about one-shot reference sessions. It was nice to see her say that it’s better to have the students come to a one-shot reference session without much of a plan than for them not to be brought at all. I’ve heard some people say “I won’t …

So I did my wiki presentation and apparently I did not suck. For those who attended the talk (or any other interested parties) you want to see the slides from the presentation visit http://meredith.wolfwater.com/cil06/. Thanks to Jessamyn for her slide template. For more information on wikis, you can visit this talk I gave on my …

talk given by Tom Peters and Lori Bell of OPAL OPAL stands for Online Programming for All Libraries. Lori used to be the head of the Illinois Talking Book Center. Hard to get people with limited mobility together for a book discussion, so they were looking for a way to do this online. Tom Peters …

Note: I’m going to put my own editorializing in italics to keep it separate. Ok, so they said we wouldn’t be able to get a signal in the ballrooms, but low and behold I seem to be getting a good signal! Rock on! Update: Ok, nevermind. Once they closed the doors I lost it. Well, …

Tomorrow (very very early) morning Adam and I are hopping on a plane and heading to DC for Computers in Libraries. This is my first Computers in Libraries, so I’m really excited! It’s also my very first time doing any sort of speaking at a conference. I’m not too nervous, since if I can’t talk …

In just a couple of weeks, HigherEd BlogCon will be starting! It will be going on all month on the HigherEd BlogCon blog and through several Webcasts. I encourage all of you to visit the HigherEd BlogCon blog and to subscribe to our RSS feed so you won’t miss any of the terrific presentations that …

ALA 2006 New Orleans Wiki I tried to get out… but they pulled me back in! No, actually I was thrilled to have been contacted by Mary Ghikas, the Senior Associate Executive Director at ALA, about the possibility of ALA creating an official ALA New Orleans Wiki. After discussing it for a while, we decided …

Other than perhaps being included in a blanket condemnation of “illiterate bloggers,” I never would have thought that I’d be so much as acknowledged by an incoming ALA President. Although she got my name wrong, it’s still nice to see that Leslie Burger is keeping up with the conversations in the blogosphere. And I really …

Update: I am going to keep this survey open the rest of today (Tuesday) and then will close it when I get up Wednesday morning. I’ll announce the results then. I know Michael is big on surveys and on user-centered change. So I thought, what better way to decide Michael’s new catch phrase than to …

For those of you who don’t read Tame the Web and have no idea who Michael Stephens is, you may just want to ignore this post. For those who do know Michael, I’m sure you know what word frequently comes out of his mouth (or on his blog or on IM) when he’s excited about …

Ok, well maybe a 15 minute Cybertour isn’t such a big deal for seasoned speakers like Michael Stephens or Alane Wilson, but this is going to be my very first time speaking at a conference. Ever. And for someone who avoided taking classes in college with fewer than 20 people because she was afraid of …

This has been a rockin’ week for reading — I wish I actually had more time to do it. Rachel Singer Gordon wrote an amazing column for Library Journal entitled “Secure Our Professional Future”. In it, she makes some very good points about the reality of the current job market and how important it is …